Analyse der schizophreniespezifität schizotypischer fragebogenskalen: entwicklung eines instrumentes zur erfassung schizophrenie-naher schizotypiemerkmale

The investigation of schizotypal symptoms is widely acknowledged as an important complementary methodological approach in schizophrenia research. However, contrary to the assumption that schizotypy is specifically associated with schizophrenia, recent questionnaire-based studies have revealed that schizophrenic patients do not exhibit higher scores than other psychiatric samples. The aim of the present study was to compare schizophrenic, depressive, obsessive-compulsive and healthy subjects regarding their scores in measures tapping schizotypy according to the definitions of Meehl, Claridge and DSM. Schizophrenic patients show enhanced scores in positive schizotypal scales but revealed lower scores in all negative, disorganized and basic symptom scales as compared to at least one psychiatric control group. For approximately 25 % of all items no group differences occurred. In a second step a schizophrenia-prone schizotypal scale was composed from 24 predominantly positive schizotypal symptoms. In these items, schizophrenic patients exceeded controls at least at trend level. For future studies, it is intended to explore the predictive validity of this scale.